Love and Hate
by Gemzgurl
Summary: It's a lovehate relationship for Lily and James. James loves Lily, and has for a while. Lily hates James, but then again, she loves him. She doesn't know whether to hate him, or to love him. FINISHED!
1. In the Common Room One Night

Has No Name Yet.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I am NOT richer than the Queen of England, and I don't know what will be in the sixth book yet, and I won't until it comes out. So, there for, I am not J.K. Rowling, and don't own any of the HP characters. Let's begin, shall we?  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Lily lay on the couch in the Gryffindor common room, reading a book. It was relatively quiet in there, which was a bit odd. The Marauders were off somewhere, no doubt getting into some kind of trouble. She sighed and shook her head. Lily's calico kitten, Asher, was purring happily by the fire. Lily put her bookmark in her book and sat next to Asher and began to pet him affectionately.  
"That was probably the best prank ever!" Someone shouted loudly. "Wow!"  
"Definitely!" Shouted another. "You should have seen the look on Snape's face!" Whoever was there started laughing. It was a boy, and Lily knew which boy. James Potter.  
Lily's eyes narrowed at the sound of the familiar voices. The Marauders had come into the common room and were talking loudly now. From what she heard, Lily guessed that the butt of the prank was, again, that poor Slytherin boy, Snape.  
Lily stood up and swooped Asher up into her arms. Then, she put one hand upon her hips. She cleared her throat, and all four of the boys stopped laughing and shouting and looked over in her direction.  
"What have you four done to that poor boy this time?" Lily demanded. James exchanged glances with Sirius Black. "Well?"  
"Um, well," began James. "Wait a minute, why should we tell you, Queen Lily?" James said sarcastically.  
"Don't get her too upset, James," warned Remus. Sirius started to snicker. "I'm serious. There's no telling what she might do."  
This only made Sirius and James burst out into hysterical fits of laughter. Lily tried taking a deep breath to calm her down, the way she always did when the Marauders got her upset. She began counting to ten.  
"So, how 'bout it, Lily? What are you going to do?" Sirius gasped between laughter. "Glare us to death?"  
This caused more laughter between the two. Remus only rolled his eyes at his immature friends and went up to the boy's dormitories to get some of his homework done from the night before. He had tried to warn them.  
"Ooh! I know!" said James, clutching at his sides. They were hurting from all of the laughter. "She's going to teach us how to count to ten!" Sirius and James became so weak from the new fits of laughter that they fell onto the floor and began to roll around, laughing.  
At six, Lily stopped counting. She set Asher on the floor, who went right back to the fireplace.  
"Do you really want to know what I want to do now?" Lily asked with venom lacing her every word. "I'll have to show you."  
James and Sirius stood up, still snickering madly, but able to stand. They were eager to see just how angry they had made her. They would really regret it later.  
"Although you learning to count is highly recommended by me," she said coldly, stomping over to them. "It's also highly unlikely to happen. So, this will just have to do."  
She pulled back her hand, and slapped James right across the face. Peter, James, and Sirius all looked stunned. James was the most stunned. And his cheek hurt, and he bet it was red. Lily had slapped him pretty hard. Then, Sirius began laughing again. But this time, he was laughing at James.  
Lily had started to walk away, but then she changed her mind. She just couldn't walk away and let Sirius get away with laughing at James just because he had gotten hit, and not him. She turned back around and slapped Sirius as hard, if not harder, than she had hit James.  
"And that is for thinking you weren't going to get hit!" With that, Lily grabbed Asher again and her book, and went back up to the girl's dormitories. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Well, what do you think? It was just sort of for fun, and plus, I love to read about Lily and James, so I decided I also might have fun writing about them. I hope it's good, and you all like it. =) 


	2. Good Luck

Still has no name yet. Sorry, I'm working on it. Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I am NOT richer than the Queen of England, and I don't know what will be in the sixth book yet, and I won't until it comes out. So, there for, I am not J.K. Rowling, and don't own any of the HP characters. Let's begin, shall we?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
"Boy, Lily sure was angry last night," Peter said quietly on the way to breakfast the next morning. Sirius glared at Peter, still in a bad mood.  
"What was your first clue, Peter?" James grunted. He and Sirius were still upset about the night before, even though it was they're own fault for making Lily angry.  
"Well, if you two had listened to Remus, maybe I wouldn't have slapped you," said Lily icily as she walked past them. A few books were piled in her arms because they wouldn't fit into her book bag, which was full to the bursting point.  
Sirius grumbled something under his breath, but the words were incoherent. Remus sighed, fearing that Sirius would never learn how to hold his tongue.  
"She's right you know," Remus said smugly. "I did warn you not to push her buttons."  
"Lily wasn't wearing buttons, Remus," James said absently, staring at Lily's retreating back.  
"I didn't mean it literally, James." Remus sighed. "Oh, never mind." He couldn't figure out a way to tell James other wise, so he didn't.  
Down at breakfast, Lily was busy reading the same book she had been the night before, when the common room was in peace. Sirius glanced at Lily with some distaste, and threw himself down on the other end of the table. The other Marauders situated themselves next to Sirius, James the farthest so he could see Lily.  
The day was Saturday, and there was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. James ate a few nibbles of toast, and poked at his scrambled eggs.  
"You've got to eat something besides toast, mate," Sirius said, shoving some more bacon into his mouth. While he chewed, he stared at a blueberry muffin as his next victim.  
"I can't. I'm not that hungry anyways." James twirled his fork around while watching Lily take a drink of her pumpkin juice.  
After breakfast, James and Sirius, along with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had to go to the locker rooms for a "chat" with their captain.  
"I can't get her off my mind," James blurted suddenly as the four Marauders walked along the corridor.  
"Who?" Sirius and Peter asked in unision. Remus had no need to ask who it was that James couldn't stop thinking of.  
"Lily!" James snarled as if they should have known, which they should have. James had only told the four that he liked Lily a lot about every day. "Who else?"  
"Good luck," the boys heard Lily's voice say behind them. James turned around to thank her.  
"Why thank you, Miss Lily Evans," James said happily. He grinned at her, but his grin slowly faded when he saw she wasn't talking to him or Sirius.  
"I wasn't talking to you, Potter!" Lily said, hand on hip. "I was giving luck to Amos Diggory. He's in the game today, too."  
"No luck for us? Your own house team?" James asked, pretending to be hurt. He already was hurt, so he didn't need to pretend too hard.  
"Fine," Lily said, walking away from Amos and over to James and the rest. Remus shook his head, knowing what was coming. "I wish you both luck. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to get hit in the head with a bludger and fall off your brooms!"  
With that, Lily walked off back to Amos. Then, they walked off together down another corridor.  
"Ooh.that was a bit harsh," Sirius said quietly, looking down at his hurt friend's face. "Cheer up mate, she'll come around eventually." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: I know, I know. Short chapter. I'm sorry, but I promise the next chapter will be longer. I wanted to make sure that I still had enough inspiration to cram into the next chapter, and make it longer. 


	3. In the Hospital Wing

If you might have any suggestions for a name please e-mail me at Mousearoo@aol.com thanks.  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. I am NOT richer than the Queen of England, and I don't know what will be in the sixth book yet, and I won't until it comes out. So, there for, I am not J.K. Rowling, and don't own any of the HP characters. Let's begin, shall we?  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
James couldn't believe that Lily would really hope something as mean as hoping for him to fall off his broom. He shook his head to try and get rid of the thought of Lily, and her flowing red wave of hair, and bright emerald green eyes.  
He glanced around the green Quidditch field, watching for the little golden snitch. Still, his thoughts began to wander back to the radiant redhead. The way her hair swayed back and forth when she walked, the way her bright eyes narrowed when she was angry, and they way she always put her hands on her hips when she got upset, or wanted to make an impression.  
"James!" someone in the crowd yelled. James turned just in time to see Lily standing up, shouting. "James, look out for that bludger!"  
James turned his head and gasped as he saw a bludger headed right for his head. It was coming fast. Too fast to move out of the way until it was too late.  
WHAM! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
James woke up in the hospital wing. He couldn't tell for how long he had been unconscious. Sirius, Peter, and Remus were at his bedside. Remus smiled weakly down at James in his bed.  
"How are you feeling, James?" Remus asked. "You were hit pretty hard."  
"I feel like my head's been hit by a bludger coming really fast," James said dryly. "How long have I been unconscious?"  
"About two weeks, mate," said Sirius. "Today is Friday, after dinner. You've been like you were for a long time. Madam Mariah was worried that you wouldn't wake up."  
"You gave us all a terrible scare," Peter squeaked timidly. "Especially Lily Evans."  
"What do you mean, Peter?" James practically shouted. If he could have, James probably would have grabbed little Peter Pettigrew and shook the living day lights out of him. "Lily Evans was scared, for me?"  
"That is what I said," Peter said, slowly backing away from James' bed.  
"Been a mess really, that Lily Evans," said a voice suddenly, making them all jump. "Crying her eyes out for a long time, the poor dear."  
"Lily? Crying for me, James Potter?" James shook his head. It didn't make sense.  
"It's true," the voice said. It was the school nurse, Madam Mariah. Madam Mariah was a short woman who always wore her hair in the same style. A bun.  
"Alright boys, Mr. Potter here needs his rest. I know you're happy that he's finally awake, but he still needs to calm down." Madam Mariah started to shoo them all away. "Too much excitement could cause him to pass out again."  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
For the next few days, James slipped between the 'living world' and the 'other world' as Sirius so fondly named it. To James, he'd fall asleep unexpectedly and then wake up abruptly.  
Whenever James happened to be awake, whether he had company or not, he would always wonder why Lily had been worried about him, and why she had been 'crying her eyes out' over him.  
Once when he woke up, it was pitch black in the hospital wing. He had lost all sense of time since he had taken that bludger to the head. He guessed it was very late at night, or very early in the morning.  
Someone was holding his hand, but it was too dark to tell who it was. James heard someone sigh at the side of the bed. James rolled over on his side. He could hear the person breathing deeply, so guessed they were sleeping.  
The hand that was holding his was warm, soft, and loving like. So, James guessed this someone was a girl. James had held a lot of girls' hands, but this one felt nothing like the other ones that he had held. His thumb began stroking the girl's hand ever so gently. Even so, she began to stir.  
"James?" she whispered. "James, are you awake?" At first, James didn't want to say anything. "James?"  
"Yeah, I'm awake," said James reluctantly. He tried to make out the figure of the girl, but failed. It was too dark to see much of anything.  
"Oh! I can't believe you're finally awake!" the girl said. She had stopped whispering, but she was still talking quietly, as not to disturb the sleeping Madam Mariah.  
Suddenly, James felt arms around his neck. The girl was giving him a hug. James was quite taken aback by this gesture. But even so, he put his arms around the figure of the girl and patted her back awkwardly.  
It was then that he smelled the girl's hair and knew who it was who had held his hand, who it was who sat by his bedside, and who it was who was now hugging him.  
"Lily?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Hey! Three chapters in one day! Not bad, huh? Well, anyway.what do you think of the new chapter? I told you it was going to be longer than the last one. I have the fourth chapter written, it's just on another computer (on my dad's lap top) so I need to transfer it over onto this one, which shouldn't take long. Anywho, please review if you can. Thanks! =) 


	4. Tears of Care

Disclaimer: I will state the obvious. I am not worth more than the Queen of England, and I do not know what will be in the sixth Harry Potter book, and I won't until it comes out, so there for, I am NOT J.K. Rowling. Got it? Harry Potter and all the rest of the characters of the books belong to J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind. Enough with the babbling, and let's begin.  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
The girl pulled away from James quickly, and James knew he was right. He had been holding Lily Evans' hand, and Lily Evans had been voluntarily hugging him. He couldn't believe it!  
"So, you don't hate me after all, do you?" asked James smugly. "You actually like me, don't you?"  
"No," Lily said shortly. "I don't completely hate you, Potter. But that doesn't mean I like you, either."  
"So why were you holding my hand, hmm?" James almost laughed, but he remembered what had happened before when he couldn't help himself but laugh. He had gotten hit. "And why were you hugging me?"  
"Because I felt guilty, okay?" Lily said quietly. "It's all my fault that you got hit in the head with that bludger."  
"How is it all your fault?" James asked with confusion. "You weren't the beater that sent the bludger after me. In fact, it might have been worse, if you hadn't warned me about it."  
"I felt guilty because before the game, I told you and Sirius that I hoped the both of you had enough luck to take a bludger to the head and fall off your brooms," Lily sat down at the bottom of James' bed. She stared at the wall ahead of her. She wasn't looking at the wall; she was remembering what happened that day, during the Quidditch match.  
"And that's exactly what happened," Lily continued. I tried to warn you, and you say you heard me, but I didn't see the bludger sooner. If I had, maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt."  
"Aw Lily, you shouldn't blame yourself for that. I mean, it isn't like you foresaw me getting hit in the head by a bludger." James hoped she was buying this. Maybe it would make her feel better.  
"I should never have said such a horrible thing to you, though," Lily said and looked at James. "What I said, I could tell that you were hurt by it. I'm so sorry James."  
Then, Lily did something that James had never expected her to do. She started crying. James didn't know what to do. He had never had to comfort a girl before, so he didn't know how too.  
James sat up in bed and stared at Lily's silhouette. It was still too dark to see anything, but James could just make out Lily's figure through the dark. She began wiping at her eyes in embarrassment.  
She hadn't expected to start crying, and especially in front of James. He would probably never let her live it down.  
"I'm sorry James, I shouldn't be crying like this. I'm not even the one in the hospital bed, who has been passing out over and over again. I'm sorry."  
James didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. He got up and sat next to Lily and started to pat her back comfortingly. Lily choked out another sob, failing at trying not to cry in front of James.  
"I'm so sorry," Lily said again. She tried again to apologize, but James interrupted her.  
"Lily, don't worry about it," he said. "I understand that you were upset with me, and sometimes we all say things we don't mean when we're angry."  
"Who knew James Potter could actually understand what I feel," Lily said, making both of them laugh. Lily wiped away the tears and got up.  
She gave James a quick hug. James cheerfully hugged back. She then bent down and planted a kiss on his cheek. She whispered in his ear, then left, walking quickly back to the common room.  
"See you tomorrow, James." She called him 'James'. Usually it was Potter, or James Potter, but rarely just James.  
"Tomorrow," James whispered into the darkness. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Hey there! Well, I figured it was time to get some heat going in the story, instead of just fights between the two. I already have the fifth chapter written, and it should be posted at the same time as this one is. The sixth chapter should be very interesting. But, no hints, because I am not going to tell you! You'll have to wait and find out. =) 


	5. Is it a Dream?

Disclaimer: I will state the obvious. I am not worth more than the Queen of England, and I do not know what will be in the sixth Harry Potter book, and I won't until it comes out, so there for, I am NOT J.K. Rowling. Got it? Harry Potter and all the rest of the characters of the books belong to J.K. Rowling's brilliant mind. Enough with the babble, and let's begin.  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
The next morning, Lily went back to the hospital wing to talk with James about the night before. She was very nervous about talking with him. She hadn't known what had come over her last night, crying in front of him, and THEN, the worst possible thing, she kissed his cheek! What was she thinking?  
Lily couldn't even begin to imagine what he would have to say. She would probably end up saying she was sorry a million times, and making a complete fool out of herself. She shook her head hopelessly.  
What did James Potter think of her now? As if she wanted to know. He was so arrogant sometimes, and acted as if he was the best thing since sliced bread. And, he had the overly annoying habit of running his hands through his hair. That drove Lily absolutely nuts.  
When Lily opened the door to the wing James was sleeping, or so it looked that way.  
In reality, James had just closed his eyes, because when he woke up earlier that morning, the sun was bright, and hurt his eyes. So, he closed them. He head the hospital doors open, and was temped to open his eyes. But, it could have been Madam Mariah, just waiting to give him some more disgusting medicine. So, he left his eyes closed, just in case.  
Lily walked over to James' bed and sat down in the chair that was there next to it for visitors to sit in. She gazed down at his "sleeping" face. She took his hand in hers, just like she had done last night, when he was sleeping. James inwardly smiled, as he knew who was there now, and almost opened his eyes. But then, Lily started talking to him.  
"You know James, if you tell a single soul about last night, I'll simply deny that it ever happened," said Lily softly. "Or maybe I'll just make your head swell to the size of a watermelon."  
James wasn't sure what a watermelon was, but he guessed that it was something muggle, and something large. He didn't want to take his chances, whatever this watermelon thing was.  
"I should just make you forget the whole thing," Lily continued. "That way you, being your arrogant self, wouldn't tell the whole entire school that I cried in front of you, or that I hugged you, and best of all, you wouldn't be able to tell them that I kissed you. Even though it was on the cheek, you would probably tell them other wise."  
At the sound of the hospital wing doors opened again, Lily let go of James' hand, much to James' distaste. It was the rest of the marauders, coming in to see how their missing member was feeling. Lily stood up.  
"Why, if it isn't Miss Lily Evans," Sirius said grinning. "And what might bring you up here, Lils?"  
"The same reason the three of you are up here," Lily replied as calmly as possible. "I was coming up to see how James was doing, if that's okay with you," she said curtly.  
"No need to get snappy, Lil. It's fine with us if you come to see our good friend James Potter," said Sirius as if Lily really wanted their permission to come and see James.  
"Well, I am going to the library to get some of my homework done. When he," Lily said, pointing at James, "Wakes up, you can give him all of his homework that he's missed so far. I believe that Madam Mariah also wants to give him some medicine."  
Lily made her way through the marauders and back to the doors. After one final look at James, she opened the doors and walked out.  
"Well mate," Sirius said to James, who opened his eyes after Lily left. "Did you get to talk to her yet?"  
"Not today, but I talked to her yesterday," James said furtively. "Last night, after dark. Lily came in when I was sleeping, and when I woke up, she was holding my hand."  
"No!" shouted Sirius with delight. "Come on, James! Tell us the rest! Didn't you talk to her?"  
"Of course I talked to her," James said with a sly grin. "I talked to her right after she hugged me." James knew that this news was just too good to keep to himself. Plus, he also knew that it was eating Sirius alive.  
"Oh come on! Please, just tell us already!" Sirius moaned. He was just dying to get his hands wrapped around this piece of juicy news.  
"Well, she apologized for wishing that I would get hit with a bludger and fall off my broom before that game, and then after saying she was sorry over and over again, she just started crying."  
"Crying?" the three gasped in unision. They were as shocked as James had been. They had never, in their six years of knowing her, seen or even heard about Lily crying.  
"Crying," James repeated. "Lily started crying. I didn't know what to do, so I didn't do anything at first. Instead, I-"  
"You didn't do anything?" Remus asked. "You see the girl you're obsessed with crying, and you don't do anything?"  
"Calm down, Moony," James said, annoyed that Remus had interrupted him. "I said I didn't do anything at first. I didn't know what to do. But then, I got out of bed and I sat next to her, because she was sitting at the end of my bed, and I patted her back. It was really awkward at first.  
"But then, I told her that it was okay that she wished all of those things," James continued, staring at the ceiling. "I told her that we all say things we don't mean when we're angry-"  
"Get on with it, Prongs!" said Sirius, who was getting very impatient with James, who was lingering on the details. "Hurry up and get to the good part!"  
"You're so impatient, Sirius," James said grumpily. He was upset about getting interrupted again. "So, anyway, before she left she kissed me."  
"You're kidding!" whispered Peter. "Lily Evans, kissing you?" Peter shook his head in disbelief. "It can't be true."  
"It is true!" protested James. He sat up in bed. "I swear! It was only on the cheek, but still!"  
"All right you three," said Madam Mariah. "It's time to leave Mr. Potter alone for a while. He needs his medicine and his rest. Go on! Shoo!"  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"James," someone whispered. James opened his eyes and saw darkness. He sat up and looked around. "James," they said again. It was a girl's voice, and James instantly thought of Lily.  
"Lily?" James whispered into the blackness. "Lily, is that you?" He heard some footsteps about two or three feet ahead of him. James got out of bed. He was a bit dizzy, but he didn't care.  
James walked forward, and he could hear the footsteps getting closer and closer to him. Finally, he felt a hand on his arm. The hand scared him, and he jumped back a step, but the girl followed.  
  
Suddenly, the room flooded with light, and there in front of him, was Lily. The most light surrounded her, and it seemed like her form was outlined with light.  
"Lily?" James said, stunned. "What are you doing-"  
"Shhh," said Lily, walking closer to James still. She put her finger on his lips, and then said, "We wouldn't want Madam Mariah to hear us, now would we?"  
Before James could answer, he felt Lily's lips upon his- ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
Author's Note: **laughing madly** you must think me a horrible, EVIL author to put such a cliffhanger like this! (If you were thinking that I am an evil author, ten points and a cookie will be awarded to you!) Mwahahahahahaha! Keep reading to find out what happens next! 


	6. It's Hate All Over Again

Disclaimer: Blah, blah. You all know by now that I am not J.K. Rowling. Because, if I was, I wouldn't be posting a FANfic about my own book on a little website like this one. So, I am obviously not the brilliant mind who created Harry Potter. Actually, I'm not a mind at all; I'm a person, for the most part. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"James!" someone said quite loudly into James' ear. "James, wake up!"  
"What the," James said, nearly cursing. He sat up in the hospital bed. "Lily?"  
"No," said a gruff voice. From what James could tell, this person, who wasn't Lily, was very close to laughing. "Sorry to disappoint you mate, but it's Sirius, not your girlfriend."  
"As much as I wish she was," said James with a sigh. "Lily isn't my girlfriend. But, she could be, if only she would realize how much she really likes me."  
Sirius only shook his head. Poor mate was so desperate for Lily that he actually thought Lily liked him as much as he liked her. She might have liked him a little bit, but not nearly as much as James liked her. Sirius sighed.  
"Well Prongs, Madam Mariah wanted me to wake you for your medicine," Sirius said grinning at James' disgusted face. "She says you can get out of here as soon as you take your medicine."  
"You woke me up from a great dream," James said disdainfully. "Only to tell me that I have to take my medicines before I can get out of this boring place."  
Sirius laughed. But, he had to agree with James. Who would want to take that disgusting purple liquid junk that Madam Mariah made? Like it would actually help. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Lily was sitting alone, in her favorite thinking place. She enjoyed having some alone time. She had left Asher back in the common room so that she could have a little bit of peace before James got out of the hospital wing. She was waiting regretfully until it happened, because then James would go back to begin his old self again, teasing and taunting her, then asking her for a date.  
Lily's thinking space was a small clearing in the Forbidden Forest. There were trees circled around a small clear space. There was also a log that was right in the middle of it all. It wasn't very far into the forest, because Lily was too afraid to go too far in the forest. There were too many things that could harm her for one thing, and for another, she didn't want to get into trouble.  
She suddenly heard a loud noise, like something coming crashing through the forest. Lily didn't want to find out what this was, coming right at her, so she got up, gathered up her books, and ran quickly out of the forest.  
When she got into the Gryffindor common room, there were girls cooing in the middle of the room. There were people crowded around in a huge circle, marveling at something. Lily got closer and tried to see what they were finding so interesting, but she couldn't see. She stood on her tiptoes, but still couldn't see.  
She began to wobble uncertainly. She fell and hit the ground, hard. A few people turned around and laughed, but no one rushed to help her up. She hadn't expected them to. She stood up by herself and dusted herself off.  
As Lily began to try and fight her way through the crowd of Gryffindors, she continued to wonder what the center of attention was. She soon found out when she ran right into him.  
"Excuse me," Lily said roughly as someone blocked her way to the girl's dormitories. "Ouch!" Lily cringed as someone else stepped on her foot.  
As Lily was staring at the ground, trying to avoid being stepped on again, she ran right into something. Or, more accurately, she ran into someone. Again, she fell onto her butt on the floor. She was getting tired of falling quickly.  
"Oh, sorry," someone said above her. Lily guessed it was the someone that had knocked her over. "Lils! Hi!"  
A hand reached down and offered to help her up. That was odd, since no one ever offered to help her up. She took the hand happily, and they helped her up. She was about to thank whomever it was who helped, but then she saw who it was. She should have known when they called her "Lils."  
"James! You're the center of attention?" Lily said incredulously. She realized only too late what she said. She blushed nearly as bright as her hair color.  
"Just remember, you said it, not me," James said with a laugh. "What's going on with you?"  
"Nothing, Potter. Now if you'll excuse me, I have homework that I need to get done," Lily said. She was trying to get away from him as soon as she could. She had a headache, and James wasn't making it any better.  
"Why don't you stay down here for the party?" James asked hopefully. "We're celebrating my getting out of that horrible place!"  
"Did you not hear me, Potter? I have homework to get done. And why would I want to celebrate someone as arrogant and self centered as you?" Lily snapped. "And it's called the 'hospital wing'. I can definitely believe that it was your HEAD that got hit."  
"Why do you always do homework, Lils?" James called after Lily. He was staring at her retreating back. "Don't you have any friends to hang out with?"  
"What?" Lily snapped, whipping around to face James. Her temper was getting the best of her again.  
"You know, 'friends'," James said walking as close as he dared to get to an angry Lily, which wasn't too much closer than he had already gotten. "People who you like to talk to, who like to talk to you, people who enjoy being around you. Like all these people around me."  
Lily looked murderous. But, she also looked hurt, but only for about a second. She walked right up to James and stared into his face. An angry Lily isn't one to mess with, and James knew that from personal experience.  
James winced because he thought she was going to slap him again, and he was right. Lily slapped him right across the cheek, hard and fast. He'd never been hit as hard as he had been right then. And he still had this bad feeling that Lily could still hit harder, a lot harder.  
All of the people around the two stopped talking. They started to whisper to the others who didn't know that Lily had hit James. Soon, everyone in the common room had stopped talking completely. It was dead quiet. Lily was glaring daggers at James, who was shocked beyond reason.  
Lily was breathing deeply and waiting for a response from James. When she didn't get one, she gave him one last glare and walked off to the girl's dormitories. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Well, here it is. Lily flew off the handle again. I got some reviews from people that said they liked it when Lily got angry, and honestly, I like to write about Lily when she gets mad. I'll try and update again soon, as I don't like to be kept waiting, and I'm sure you don't like to be either. I'm sorry this chapter isn't as good as it should be, but I've been very stressed over my three nephews and eldest sister being here for the holidays. 


	7. Turning Over a New Leaf

"Lily?" James spotted the redhead reading a book at the Gryffindor head table. He sat down in the empty seat next to her and grinned. Lily grunted to show that she was listening. "Will you go out with me?"  
  
"No," Lily replied with out even looking up at him. "I will most certainly not go out with such an arrogant, self-conceited person as you."  
"Ah, Lily!" James said, but still smiled his best smile, just in case she looked up at him. "Why do you think I am so arrogant?"  
"Because you are," Lily said with out hesitation. "That's why. If I even considered dating you, which I wouldn't, your head would be so large that it wouldn't be able to fit through the Great Hall doors."  
Everyone around them burst into sniggers and giggles at Lily's words. Lily, on the other hand, didn't even smile, as she knew the words were true. Sirius elbowed James in the ribs, and James glared.  
"You're words hurt me," he said sweetly, slipping into flirting mode and throwing on the charm.  
"Yeah, well the truth hurts, Potter," she replied, and caused another wave of giggles and sniggers to pass over the Gryffindors. "And here's another piece of truth for you and Black over there." Lily sat her book in her lap and turned to James and Sirius. "You two are not God's two gifts to the race of women; there will be some girls who will turn you down, and seriously dislike you, and I am one of those girls."  
Lily grabbed her things from the breakfast table, gave a final glare to James, and walked out of the Great Hall. A lot of the Gryffindors were still sniggering, and continued to giggle and laugh until Professor McGongall quieted them down.  
"I do hope you know that you two walked right into that," said Remus, taking another bite of his eggs. Once he swallowed he continued. "I thought what she said was pretty funny, especially since you gave her the ammo to say the things she did."  
"Shut up, Remus," James said. "Just shut up." It was bad enough that Lily had just dissed him in front of all the Gryffindors, but then Remus just had to say it again, just to rub it in.  
"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Alexa offered to James. Alexa was Lily's best friend, and a good friend of James'. Alexa was a beautiful Gryffindor. She was tall and leggy, a waterfall of black curls for hair that today was pulled back into a ponytail, and exotic purple eyes.  
"If you want to," James said, running his hands through his hair, "but you don't have to, just for me."  
"That was noble of you, James," Sirius said, mocking him. "Hey! That gives me an idea!" **************************************************************************** *********************  
Lily was sitting under a tree near the lake, reading her book, trying to forget that she didn't get much of breakfast because of that jerk, Potter. She seethed only thinking about him. She furiously turned the page in her book, tearing the page slightly, but took no notice.  
"Lily?" James approached carefully, noticing her furious expression. She looked so cute when she was angry, but despite her good looks, she was still scary. "Lily, listen, please?" He continued with out waiting for her to respond, because he knew that she wouldn't. "Lily, I'm sorry for being so arrogant, and I just-" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Lily, look at me."  
"What do you want?" she snapped. "Can't you take a hint? Well, apparently not, because I've only told you about a hundred times that I wouldn't even dream of going out with you, but yet you still ask me." James again ran his hand through his hair, and Lily snapped again. "Stop messing with your hair. You know it makes me angry!"  
"Listen, Lily, I'm trying to apologize." James fought the urge to run his hands through his hair. He couldn't help it; some times he did it to impress the ladies (mainly Lily), others it was out of nerves. "I'm sorry. I was a jerk, really, I was. Sorry."  
Lily looked at him suspiciously. She was clearly trying to tell if he was sincere. From what she could tell, oddly enough, he was being sincere. This shocked her, and he was happy to see it.  
"Well then," said Lily, "this has to be a first for you, James Potter: apologizing to someone and actually meaning it. I must say, even though it pains me to admit it, I think that is a good improvement," she said slowly.  
Yes! James thought happily. Finally, a plan has been developed to get Lily to like me! I must thank Sirius for this generous plan of his; Lily's noticing the changes in me already. **************************************************************************** ***********************  
Author's Note: Hey all you people out there! What do you think about the new chapter? I hope you like it. In case you didn't understand, Sirius' plan is to make James change his ways in hopes of getting Lily's attention. Will it work? Will Lily notice what's going on? Why am I asking so many questions? Well, I don't know why I'm asking so many questions, but the other questions will hopefully be answered in the next few chapters, so, stay tuned! 


	8. The Dare

"I just can't believe that James has changed so much!" exclaimed Lily to Alexa one afternoon after Charms. James had carried her books for her to all of the classes, even though Lily said he didn't have to. "Although him carrying my books is annoying, because I know that he is just trying to get to date him, I still can't help thinking that it's also kind of sweet."  
"Maybe you should just let him do things for you," Alexa said with a secret smile. She knew why James was doing all of these things for Lily. "It would make him happy, and then you wouldn't have to do it. See, if he carries your books to class, then you don't have to!"  
"Alexa, that's horrible!" Lily gasped. "Even though I don't like James, I wouldn't use him like that! I'm not going to be like the other girls who do that. That's a terrible suggestion."  
"I'm just saying," Alexa shrugged, "I think that you should just date him, and get it over with already."  
"I don't think so," Lily replied shortly. "Why would I want to do that? He'll date me for a week, tell me he loves me, and then after that week, I'm dumped, and he goes after some blond chick. No thanks."  
"What if I dared you to go out with him?" she asked with a grin on her face. "Just on one date. Please, Lily? What could one date hurt?"  
"A lot, actually," Lily said. Alexa punched her in the shoulder. "Ouch!" She rubbed her arm and glared at Alexa.  
"Come on, Lily!" whined Alexa. "Just one date. And then he won't be able to say that you never gave him a chance. The next time he asks you on a date, you have to say yes."  
"Or what? You'll punch me in the arm again?" Lily asked scornfully.  
"Or else you'll have to ask Snape on a date," replied Alexa with a sly grin. "Deal?"  
"Only on one condition."  
"What's that?"  
"If I say yes to James the next time he asks me on a date, you have to ask either Remus or Sirius out." It was Lily's turn to put a sly grin on her face. "Deal?"  
"Deal," Alexa agreed reluctantly. It was a high price to pay, but at least then she would get to see Lily and James as a couple. She held out her hand, and Lily took it, and they both shook on the deal. Now neither girl could go back on their deal. *******************************************************  
"Hello, Lily," James said that night at dinner. He sat next to her. He smiled at her when she looked up at him.  
"Hello, James," Lily said shortly. She looked back down at her plate, because out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Alexa grinning at her.  
"Fancy a walk around the lake with me?" he asked with a smile. It wasn't exactly a date, but Lily still had to say yes, because she was sure that James was going to ask her out while they were walking.  
"Sure, James," sighed Lily. "But not a very long one, because I still want to eat my dinner."  
James was so delighted when Lily got up and started out the Great Hall doors that Lily had to ask him if he was coming, or if he was just going to stand there all night. He ran to catch up with her, because she was just standing there with her hands on her hips, waiting for him to walk with her.  
"So, did you want to ask me something, Potter?" Lily asked when she and James were outside and heading for the lake. She just had this bad feeling that James was going to ask her out, and she knew that she would have to say yes, or else she had to ask Snape out, and that was NOT going to happen.  
"Well, now that you bring it up," James said slyly. He grinned. "Lily, would you please go out with me? Please?"  
"Sure," she mumbled incoherently.  
"What?"  
"I said, sure." Lily sighed. "Sure, Potter. One date, you hear? ONE. That's all."  
"One date's all I need, Miss Lily Evans." He grinned happily, and Lily was half inclined to smack him again, but decided that she wouldn't, but instead just go back inside so she could eat her dinner and forget all about her date with James Potter.  
"So, what did he want?" Alexa asked eagerly as soon as Lily sat back down at the table.  
"He wanted to know if I would go on a date with him," Lily said dryly. She then added quietly to Alexa, "As if you didn't already know that's what he wanted."  
"So, what did you say?" Alexa raised her eyebrows at Lily. Either way she won. Either Lily said yes to James, and they would become the perfect couple, or Lily said no, and would be forced to confront Snape and ask him out. Everyone knew (except maybe James) that Snape had a crush on Lily.  
Lily sighed. "I said yes, Alexa, okay? I said that I would go on ONE date with James Potter, and I even resisted the urge to slap him across the face when he was being an idiot."  
Alexa grinned, Remus dropped his fork, and Sirius started choking on his pumpkin juice. Lily just rolled her eyes. Peter Pettigrew started patting Sirius on the back; just to make sure he wasn't going to die.  
"YOU SAID THAT YOU WOULD GO ON A DATE WITH JAMES?" Sirius roared when he had stopped choking. "AND YOU DIDN'T SLAP HIM?"  
"Sirius, why don't you say that a little bit louder; I don't think the people in Australia heard you!" Lily snapped. Alexa threw a chunk of her dinner roll at him, and shook her head. "And I only agreed to ONE date with James. O-N-E. No more."  
"And like I said, that's all I need, my dear sweet Flower," James said, sitting down next to her. It took all of Lily's self-control not to shove him off of his chair at that mocking tone in his voice. She only glared and stabbed at her salad with a vengeance.  
"Boy, I'm glad I'm not that salad," James said, watching Lily stab at it with her fork.  
"You could be," Lily replied, holding up her fork. She made a move to stab him with it, but he dodged it and laughed, which caused her to go after him again. *******************************************************  
Author's Note: Well? Did you like the new chapter? I had SO much fun writing it. I had to get some way of getting Lily and James on a date, so I made Lily's best friend dare her to do say yes, and I think it worked out rather well. Please review if you can; I'd love to hear (or read) what you have to say about the new chapter. 


	9. The Date: Part One

Love and Hate  
Disclaimer: I am not worth anywhere near as much as J.K. Rowling, so there for, I do not own any characters in this story, apart from Alexa. Sorry that I haven't been writing the disclaimer for a while. I keep forgetting to write it in. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"So, Lily Flower, where do you want to go on our date?" James asked Lily in the common room one day. Lily was stroking her cat, Asher, and resisting the urge to tell James "nowhere".  
  
"I don't know, James," Lily said in exasperation. James hadn't left her a moment's peace since she had accepted James' offer for a date. "You can pick and surprise me, okay?" she pleaded.  
  
"That's a brilliant idea, Lily!" James grinned. "I need to go pick out a place for me to flatter you. I'll see you later!" And, he jumped off the couch and ran up to the boys' dormitories.  
  
Lily was sincerely regretting taking Alexa's dare; after all, it was totally screwing with her emotions. She wasn't sure whether to be happy that James had finally left her alone after hours and hours of him being practically surgically attached to her, or upset that he had left her alone with only her cat for company. Lily didn't know whether to hate James, or love him. She wasn't sure if she should slap him as hard as she could across his cute face, and tell him where to stick his fat head, or to compliment him on his ability to catch a Snitch so quickly.  
  
She decided to go and talk with Remus about her, well, her feelings. Lily found that Remus was so easy to talk to. Last year, when she and Remus had become Prefects, Lily and Remus used to talk while they patrolled the corridors, and had quickly become friends. So, if anyone could help sort through Lily's emotions, it would be Remus.  
  
"Hi, Remus," Lily said after she had found Remus outside near the lake. "Can we talk? I really need someone to talk to."  
  
"What do you want to talk about?" Remus asked, setting down his Defense Against the Dark Arts book, and patting the ground next to him for Lily to sit.  
  
"James," Lily replied simply as she sat down next to Remus. "As you probably know, from Sirius' big mouth, that I have agreed to one date with James. Well, I'm not really sure what would ever happen on a date with James, and honestly, it wasn't my idea. Alexa dared me to either accept a date with James, or go out with Snape, and I don't really want to do either, but-" she trailed away and sighed.  
  
"Don't worry about it, Lily," Remus said with a smile. "I always knew you would eventually go on a date with James." He grinned, and Lily glared. "Lily, James really likes you, trust me, and he behaves himself on dates. Plus, you only agreed to one date really, and he wouldn't want to mess up his ONE chance with you."  
  
"What do you mean, James 'behaves himself on dates'?" Lily asked. "It's hard to believe that he behaves himself anywhere." She laughed and rolled her eyes.  
  
"He does," Remus promised. "James may act silly at school, but when he's on a date, he is quite the gentleman. He's actually rather serious when he's with a girl, and especially one he likes, which is you, Lily, because he wants to impress them with his intellect, not just his looks. James is actually a very profound person."  
  
Lily burst into laughter. She couldn't help it, Remus, actually saying that James is a deep person? Please. It was just too funny. Remus waited uncomplainingly for Lily to stop her laughter before continuing.  
  
"You may laugh now, Lily," he said, "but you'll believe me once you two go on your date."  
  
"Alright," Lily said, wiping her eyes; she had laughed so much that she had tears in her eyes. "Alright, alright. How much did James pay you, Remus?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"How much did James pay you to tell me that?" Lily asked, suddenly serious. "Really. I can't, no; I won't put it past him. Paying you to say nice things to me about him, I mean."  
  
"He didn't pay me anything to say anything to you, Lily," Remus said quietly. "I'm telling you the truth. I've been on double dates with James and his date before, and he was really nice. Most girls are very shallow, and they go out with him because he's cute and popular. They only go for his looks. That's why he's been trying to get you to go out with him. James thought that you would like him for who he really is. Plus, he really thinks you're cute and everything, but he likes your personality, too." He paused, thought for a second, and then added, "He likes your personality except for when you're smacking him." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
That night, around seven-fifteen, Lily headed for the Entrance Hall to wait for James there. He had come to her later that day, after Charms, and told her to be ready by seven-thirty, and to meet him in the Entrance Hall. She took a deep breath while she waited, trying to calm her nerves.  
  
Just go out with him, and get it over with, Lily thought to herself. It isn't that big of a deal, anyway. It's just James Potter, right? Not someone that I would really go out with and enjoy our time together.  
  
"Lily!" cried James when he saw her down in the Entrance Hall, waiting (only because she had to) for him. "Are you ready to be wowed?"  
  
She turned around to look at James. "James, I-" Lily stopped when James held out a dozen or more ashen white lilies to her. She smiled with delight and went over to him, and, before she knew what she was doing, Lily was giving James a hug. She pulled away quickly. "They're beautiful, James. Thank you."  
  
"Not a problem," James replied giddily. "Anything for my Lily Flower. I asked if you were ready to be wowed, and did I wow you, or what?" He handed her the lilies, and took her out to the grounds. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
"Are you sure that we can be here?" Lily asked James for the millionth time that night. James had taken her to Hogsmeade, to a little restaurant called Milo's Cauldron (A/N: Milo is my new Pug puppy. I just adopted him, and he's so cute! Oh yes, anyway, back to the story).  
  
"Yes, Lily, I'm sure," James replied. "Just relax, Lils! I brought you on this date so you and I could have some fun, not so you could worry your brains out about getting into trouble. Trust me, all right? Relax."  
  
"You keep telling my to relax, and to trust you," Lily mumbled. "Okay, I'll trust you, since this is only just one date, okay?"  
  
"Good," James said with a smile. "Now let's go find a booth and order something to eat, because I'm hungry, since I didn't get dinner."  
  
"Neither of us got dinner, James," Lily reminded him. James had told Lily right after Charms as well, not to eat dinner, and so she hadn't, getting the idea that James was going to take her out to dinner with him, which was fine by her. She just wasn't sure where James was going to take her, and she certainly had been surprised to find out that he was taking her into Hogsmeade.  
  
Lily looked around the restaurant. Milo's Caldron was a neatly kept place, with green plants that had sapphire blue flowers on them in every corner, and near some of the tables. The tables were round, most of them with four chairs around them. Toward the back of the restaurant, there were booths, with comfortable looking cushions. James took Lily back to one of the booths, and they took a seat across from one another and picked up their menus. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Hi there! What do you think about the new chapter? I hope you like it. Honestly, I'm not sure how it will turn out, since I wrote/typed the last bit of it when I wasn't feeling oh so very well. I will try and get the next chapter as soon as I can with this evil cold/flu thingamajig. 


	10. The Date: Part Two

Love and Hate  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, apart from Alexa, and the only place I own is Milo's Caldron. The rest belongs to J. K. Rowling. I don't even LOOK like Ms. Rowling. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
A tall black-haired waiter came to James and Lily's table and pulled out a pad of parchment (A/N: Um, the pad of parchment is supposed to be like the pad of paper, you know, like the waiters and waitresses at restaurants carry around to write down the orders of their little people, you know yeah. Sorry, I can't think of the term right now. I'm sick, so please forgive me) and a quill to write down what they wanted.  
After they ordered their food, Lily and James exchanged chitchat. They talked about their families, friends, houses, schoolwork. Lily was taken aback that James wanted to let her talk, and when he got going about his family, he made her talk.  
"So, Remus says that you have a sister," James said, trying again to make Lily talk about herself, instead of talking about himself.  
"Yes, Petunia." Lily crinkled her nose. "She's two years older than me, and isn't exactly my favorite person in the world. Petunia's favorite word to describe me is 'freak.'"  
"I take it she wasn't too thrilled that you got into Hogwarts then," James observed, scratching his chin thoughtfully.  
"You could say that, to say the least," Lily replied tersely. "My mum and dad were pretty happy with me, you know, to have a witch in the family, but Petunia, she just thought that they should be ashamed to be happy of such a freak like me."  
"You aren't a freak, Lily," James scorned. "You shouldn't believe your sister, Lils. Actually, being the only witch in your family should make you proud. I think it's a great accomplishment." When she snorted, James sighed. "What, you think you are some kind of freak or something?"  
"No," said Lily, suppressing another snort. "You think that I actually believe what my wicked, crazed sister says about me?" She snorted again. "Please." She shook her head.  
Just at that moment, the black haired waiter came to a stop at their table with a large silver platter with two ceramic, cream and rose colored plates. He set the platter down on the table and gave them each one of the ceramic plates, one with a large salad with bits of Santa Fe chicken mixed with the crisp, green lettuce, and the other with mashed potatoes, corn-on- the-cob, and barbequed ribs. The salad went to Lily, and the ribs went to James.  
When the waiter left after the both students said thanks you, James said to Lily, "So, if you don't believe what she says, why do you let her talk to you that way?"  
"I don't," was the simple reply. "Dad tells her not to call me that, or not to be mean to me, mom pretends she doesn't hear Petunia being 'unsophisticated,' as mom says, and there isn't a thing I can do about her."  
"Why can't you do anything about your 'darling' sister?" James asked, taking a bite off of his corn. He watched her as she picked at her salad with her fork, taking a small bite.  
"Because, she's two years older than I am for one thing, and she's got a horrible boyfriend who weighs about one hundred pounds more than I do, and hits very hard with his large fist." Lily shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "I just deal with her, and when I can't, I hid out in my room."  
"Her boyfriend slaps you?"  
"Not a lot," Lily said quickly. "Just sometimes, like when I try and stand up for myself. But it doesn't hurt all that bad, I mean occasionally I get a bruise, but it isn't like it's a regular occurrence, James, I promise."  
"Is there anything else you would like to tell me, Lily?" asked James. "I mean, if we're going to date, I think I---"  
"Stop right there, James Potter," Lily interrupted, holding up her hands up. "Who said that we are going to date?" she snapped. "This was only one date, and only because I was dared to date you!" Her hand flew up to her mouth.  
"You were dared to date me?" James asked, trying to hide his amusement. "I knew you wouldn't come here by yourself." He smiled, and at a confused look from his Lily Flower, he explained, "You're too stubborn to come here with me; it might hurt your pride, and that's one thing that I don't think you could handle." Lily sat there with her jaw hanging open, flabbergasted.  
  
"So, you're not upset?" inquired Lily quietly. She looked down at her hands, which were set in her lap, and she began to twist them uncomfortably. "It was a little, I don't know, mean and totally cruel of me, but if I didn't go on a date with you, I would have to have asked Snape out, and, I didn't want to do either, but I couldn't stand it if I had to go on a date with a Slytherin with a crush on me."  
"Snape has a crush on you?" seethed James. Lily's eyebrows raised and she looked up at him. She had thought that James knew that Snape had a crush on her, which is why she said it.  
This cannot be happening, thought Lily, it just can't be. I thought James knew about Snape. I should just keep my temper and my mouth under control. I spilled something that I thought I would never have told James, about being dared to date him, and another thing that will probably get Snape beat up and hexed into next week.  
"Listen, James, I'm sorry, but I thought you knew that Snape had a crush on me. Heaven knows everyone else knows." She shook her head, lost for any more words. "Look, I'm just sorry about everything."  
"About what?" Lily stared at him in complete shock. "Lily Evans, I am going to ask you a question, and I want a completely honest answer out of you, you understand?" Lily nodded reluctantly. "Are you sorry for coming on this date with me?"  
"No," was the instant reply. Her hand flew up to her mouth again and she mentally slapped herself for saying that.  
"That's what I thought." He flashed her a contented grin and continued to eat his dinner while Lily sighed and started to eat hers as well. She didn't know what to say to him anymore, so she just sat there in silence, eating her salad and trying to think of something to say. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: Hi there! I'm having so much fun writing this story. I hope you all like it so far, and I hope you like this chapter. I thought it was about time for James to leave Lily speechless instead of the other way around. Tee hee hee, I'm having a lot of fun writing for you guys and then seeing what you have to say, so PLEASE review! Thanks very much for reviewing, all of you, even if you don't check in with this story often. It doesn't matter. I appreciate all of them. 


	11. The Morning After

Love and Hate  
  
James and Lily walked side-by-side back to Hogwarts. They still talked here and there, but mostly they stayed quiet, enjoying each other's company. When they reached the portrait hole, they stopped walked and James was the first to speak.  
"So, Lily, how did you like our 'one' date together?" he asked with his usual smugness.  
"I had a lot of fun," Lily answered honestly. "Which is rather scary, considering that it was me having fun with you. I guess Remus was right about you actually being a gentleman on dates, James." She paused, then added quietly, "I'm really glad that I gave you a chance."  
James grinned. "I knew it!" he said triumphantly. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the Potter charms!" He bent down to kiss Lily's cheek, but her lips caught his.  
Lily pulled away and hurried through the portrait hole and up to her warm bed in the girls' dormitory, leaving James standing right outside with a giddy smile on his face.  
* * *  
  
"Well, Alexa, I did it," Lily announced to her friend the next morning at breakfast. "I can safely say that I went on a single date with James Potter and I survived it." Alexa smirked at her redheaded friend.  
"I knew you could do it, Lily," she said with a satisfied smile on her face. "I knew that if you would only give James a chance that you would be happy with the results."  
Lily gasped, finally realizing what Alexa's real plans for this silly little dare had really been. "You tricked me! I can't believe it." With a second thought, Lily put up her finger. "Ah, but you're forgetting one small, but very important detail."  
"What's that?"  
"You still have to go out with Remus or Sirius."  
Alexa groaned. Lily had a point, though. The only way that she had gotten Lily to agree to go on a date with James was to agree to go on a date with either Sirius or Remus, and now that Lily had come through on her date with James, Alexa had to come through on her part of the deal.  
Well, I'm certainly not going to ask Sirius, Alexa thought to herself. I couldn't do that. So, Remus it is then. We'll just go as friends. "Remus, my friend," Alexa said, scooting over to him, "I think that you and I should get together sometime. You know, strictly as friends."  
Lily shook her head. Alexa's courage never failed to amaze her. Whether it was talking back to a teacher (and getting a good three days of detention and never complaining) or asking a boy on a date, Alexa had the guts to do it, and if she didn't, well, she'd pretend that she did have the audacity to do it.  
"Um, sure, Alexa," Remus answered, a little surprised by her suddenness.  
"Wait, how come you're not asking me to go on a date with you?" Sirius asked, pretending to be hurt. He slapped his hand over his heart dramatically and pretended to faint right into his oatmeal.  
"Because, Sirius, Remus and I aren't going on a date," Alexa replied, not even fazed with the fainting routine Sirius was pulling. "We're going to get together, strictly as friends." With a wicked smile on her face, she added, "And besides, even if it were a date, I wouldn't want to go on a date with you. I like Remus much better than you."  
Sirius pouted, Alexa grinned, Lily laughed and Remus blushed. James came strolling in, noticeably 30 minutes late, and sat down between his pouting friend and the blushing one.  
"What'd I miss?" he asked. That's all it took to get Alexa and Lily started in a fit of giggles.  
"A lot, Prongs, a lot," Sirius, glaring grumpily at the giggling girls, said.  
"But don't feel bad," added Remus. "It seems as though we've missed a lot as well." He also shot a glance over at the girls. "I have a feeling that it's something to do in between them, a private joke if you will. Either that or they're so tired that they've temporarily lost all sense of reality."  
"Who says that this is only temporary?" Sirius muttered darkly, feeling as though he was the butt of their laughter, which of course wasn't true. They were simply both very tired and they were laughing about how the boys still hadn't figured out the dare yet.  
James sat there, as thoroughly confused as he would be in an advance potions class. He shook his head and hurried to eat something before classes began.  
"I seriously need to start getting more sleep at night," Lily gasped through fits of laughter. Remus and Sirius both nodded their agreement and so did Alexa.  
"Ah, come on boys, lighten up!" Alexa said, slapping Sirius on the back. Sirius coughed, choking on a bit of toast. "You guys better get in a better mood, or soon you're going to get into trouble for being grumpy."  
"Well, you two are going to get into from for being pert sooner or later if you don't tone it down a bit," Sirius snapped in response. Of course, that shut Lily up, but Alexa just rolled her eyes and she muttered something about Sirius "being cross." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Author's Note: I am again running out of ideas for the story to continue. I need some ideas of what should happen on Alexa's and Remus' date, so if you might have some ideas or something that you would like to read about happening on their date, please, let me know. I'd love to hear what you guys have to say about it. And I think it's safe to say that I'm not sure that this story will be continuing forever, as it might be getting to a good stopping point soon. Anyway, that being said, please, review and tell me your ideas! 


	12. James Potter Strikes A Nerve

"Now this is the life!" exclaimed Alexa, grinning widely and smelling a single rose that she had just taken out of the dozen that she had gotten that morning. Lily rolled her eyes at her friend, who put the rose back in the vase that was at her feet. Alexa then flipped her curly hair over her shoulder.  
All week, Sirius had been sending her flowers and chocolate frog in an attempt to get her to take him on a date, instead of Remus. Alexa was enjoying all the attention, happily boasting about it to anyone who asked about her "secret admirer" who was really Sirius. Lily didn't know why Remus wasn't trying to keep up with his friend by sending Alexa flowers and candy like Sirius. She'd asked him about it around the middle of the week.  
"Because I don't care if Alexa chooses me over him," Remus answered simply, shrugging his shoulders innocently. "She can very well have him over me if she really wants. But she asked me out, not him." Smiling smugly, he added, "Besides, all of this pampering will only spoil Alexa, and that's really not what she needs."  
  
"Hey, Lils," James said cheerfully, sitting down next to her on the cool grass, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "Hasn't this been the best two weeks ever? Everyone is falling in love!" Lily raised an eyebrow at him and shoved his arm away.  
"Like who, may I ask?"  
"Well, Sirius and Remus are obviously falling for Alexa." He grinned down at her. "And like us! Or don't you remember that kiss that we shared the night right after our date?"  
Lily had been reading her book, but that wasn't going to work with James there. She set it down beside her. Again, James tried to sling an arm around her shoulders, and again she pushed him away. Why had he chosen today to bother her about the kiss? She wanted to be alone for a while, instead of having to watch Sirius beg Alexa about their "date."  
"Of course I haven't forgotten, James," Lily said, rolling her eyes and sighing. "It was just a kiss."  
"What do you mean, 'it was just a kiss,' Lily? How could that mean nothing to you?" He pouted, frowning and sticking his bottom lip out, the whole deal. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes again, even though he did look kind of cute like that.  
"It was just a spur of the moment kind of thing," Lily answered slowly. "I don't know what I was thinking, kissing you. It was stupid. And besides, it was only one date, remember?" She sighed again, feeling uncomfortable with his eyes staring at her. She looked at the lake.  
"Are you saying that it didn't mean anything to you?" To Lily's shock, he sounded kind of hurt, and she immediately felt guilty for saying it. She chewed her lip, and the memory of their lips touching briefly entered her mind before she rapidly pushed it back out again.  
"I don't know what I'm saying, James," Lily admitted. "I'm sorry, but I don't know if our kiss meant anything or not. I know that I was the one who kissed you, but---I don't know. I'm sorry."  
James didn't know what to say. He was literally at a loss for words, which never happened with him. Ever. Especially around a girl, and this was Lily. Why did she have this effect on him? He'd known Lily for six years, for goodness' sake! He'd also never been so hurt by a girl.  
"Well, Lily, I'm sorry you feel that way, because I thought that kiss meant quite a lot, coming from you," James said finally. "Especially since you've been telling me that you would never like me for six years. To me, that kiss wasn't just friendly, but I guess it wasn't even that for you."  
James got up and walked away, leaving Lily shocked at how much she had apparently hurt him in just one little conversation.  
_I am so stupid!_ she scolded herself. _Why did I have to go and kiss him and then tell him that it meant nothing?_ She was so confused. She really, honestly didn't know what the kiss meant to her, but she knew it meant something, because for some reason she kept thinking about it. It had literally haunted her day and night for the past week.  
  
"Hey, Lils," James said cheerfully the next day. _Well, he sure got over things quickly_, Lily thought as she continued to read her Charms book and jot notes down on the piece of parchment in front of her. They were both in the library, sitting at a table by a window. It looked like it was going to rain soon; the sky was grey. "No hard feelings about yesterday, right?"  
"You're the one who got upset, if I remember correctly, James," Lily answered calmly, still not looking up from her book. "So as long as you have no hard feelings, then, no, no hard feelings about yesterday afternoon."  
"Why do you always do that?"  
"Do what, Potter?" She wrote something else down on her parchment.  
"That!" he replied, exasperated. "You hardly ever look at me when I'm talking to you! You're always studying. That's all you ever do, Lily! Why do you always study so much?"  
"Because unlike some people, I happen to like getting good grades," she answered easily. "It makes my parents rather happy when I get straight A's. I'm sure your mother would be much happier if you managed to pull your grades up."  
"Well, your mother must be extremely proud of you, then," James countered. Lily's head jerked up; he had struck a nerve. Her face paled significantly.  
"What did you say?" she whispered, voice barely capable of being heard. A muscle in her jaw twitched.  
"I said, 'Well, your mother must be extremely proud of you, then,'" James repeated coolly. He was doing the unthinkable: he made Lily mad, and then continued to feed fuel to her fiery temper. On purpose.  
"Never talk about my mum to me again, Potter, ever." Lily gathered up her things, roughly shoving them into her book bag and stormed out of the library, James hot on her tail.  
"Jeez, Lils, what's up with you?" he asked as soon as he had caught up to her. She whirled around to face him, and he was surprised to see that her face wasn't red with anger, but incredibly ashen and she looked like she was about to cry.  
"You wouldn't understand." Lily stared at him, her normally bright and shining green eyes eerily dull and lifeless. "Not you, with your perfect life, your great friends, your amazing family. A girl or something equally as petty turning you down the worst thing that can happen to you in your life. You would never understand, James Potter, ever."  
  
Author's Note: And it's back to hate, again. Anybody know what's wrong with Lily, like why she went so quiet and angry when James mentioned her mom? I'd like to read some guesses, because I enjoy reading your ideas. I'm thinking of making Lily explode with her temper again, because you guys really seem to like it when she does, lol, and I like to please. 


	13. The Redheaded Temper Strikes Again

"I don't know what I did, Remus," James said with a sigh. "All I did was mention Lily's mum and she went ballistic, telling me never to talk about her mum again, and now she's cross with me...again."  
James and Remus were lying around in the Gryffindor common room talking about Lily's reaction to the conversation that she had had with James. Remus had been trying to read his book, but then James had come in and starting pouring out what had happened with Lily earlier that day. It was raining heavily now, and everyone was inside the castle.  
"Well, James, maybe you should talk to her about it," Remus replied. "Try to find out why she got mad at you so you don't do it again." He shrugged.  
"Yeah, but she told me never to talk about her mum again," James pointed out. "Moony, can't you just tell me what's wrong with her? I mean you guys patrol the hallways all the time together as prefects. Please, please, tell me. I really want to know."  
"What makes you think she ever told me about it?" Remus asked, rolling his eyes at James. "Yes, we talk about things while we patrol, but her mum was never a subject brought around for discussion. If you really want to know why she got so upset with you, why don't you ask her about it? And yes, she told you never to speak about it again, but how are you supposed to find out if you never bring it up again?"  
"Yeah, that's what I'll do," James said, nodding his head. "Thanks, Moony. You're a genius. I'll go speak to Lils about her mum right now."  
Remus shook his head. Oh what simple suggestions made James happy.  
  
James found Lily sitting at her favorite table in the library, nearly falling asleep behind her History of Magic book. He pulled a chair out from the table and sat down, jolting Lily from her sleep-like state, causing her head to fall on the table. James raised his eyebrow as she glared at him and rubbed her forehead.  
"What do you want, Potter?" she snapped. When he simply shrugged, she continued, "Well, you must have come here for something. So what is it?"  
"I wanted to talk about your mum, actually---"  
"I told you to never to talk about my mum again, Potter. What part of that didn't you understand?" Lily pushed her chair back from the table, snatched her book from the table and tried to storm out of the library, but James blocked the door.  
"Come on, Lily. I'll quit being a nuisance to you if you just tell me what I did to make you cross in the first place. And how do you know that I won't understand? You haven't told me yet."  
"And what makes you so sure that you will understand?" she countered. "The way you say yet makes me think that you think that I'm actually going to tell you about it, which I'm not. So just get out of my way. Please."  
"Why don't you just tell me? You never know, it might make you feel better." He stuck out his bottom lip in a vain attempt to convince Lily to tell him about her mum. "Please, I'm dying to know about---"  
"Don't say that! Just stop talking about it all together! I don't want to talk about it, can't you see that? So just...just drop it." She made a move to get past him, but he just shifted so that his body blocked the entire door.  
"Why won't you tell me, Lily?" James demanded.  
"Because I don't want to talk about it!" Lily cried in exasperation. "How many times am I going to have to tell you? What part of this aren't you getting? I already told you: you with your perfect life wouldn't be able to understand, which is why you're refusing to let the matter drop. You can't understand why I don't want to talk about it, so what makes you think you can understand why I don't want you talk about my mum?"  
"I'll stop bothering you if you tell me," James repeated. "Promise."  
"Get out of my way, Potter." Her voice had suddenly gone from being high- pitched because she was angry to a cool, stony voice that he thought he had never heard her use before.  
James shook his head. "Not until you tell me why talking about your mum makes you act like this. I can stand here all night, if I have to, and you know I will. I'm stubborn like that." He folded his arms across his chest and refused to budge.  
Lily sighed and rubbed right between her eyes as if she had a headache there, which she did. He was such a pest sometimes it was unbearable. There would be no way to get out of this, as far as she could see. She would have to tell him about her mother, and then he'd go and start feeling sorry for her. She loathed being pitied. He'd probably even run his mouth off about it onto someone else, and then the Slytherins would get a hold of the information and start teasing her. As if being one of the only muggle-borns in the school wasn't bad enough. She'd never hear the end of it, so long as she was at Hogwarts. She could really kill James right about now and not feel guilty at all. He was impossible! He was like one of those pug dogs; once he got a hold of something, he positively refused to let go of it.  
"Fine. You'll be standing there for a long time." Lily pressed her lips together, message clear: "I'm not going to be talking about it anytime soon."  
"What could it possibly be that could make you this mad?" James mused aloud. "Clearly it's something terrible. Anything less wouldn't get to you this way at all. Maybe your parents got divorced or something. Maybe---"  
With a loud CRACK, she slapped the side of his face so hard his head snapped to the side. He looked at her, shock showing visibly in his eyes and on his face, where a bright red mark was forming. This wasn't the kind of smack that she had been giving him since their first year, but something much more meaningful. James just wished that he knew what that meaning was.  
"Don't you ever make assumptions about my family again," she whispered, lip trembling. Without warning, she began crying, and, pushing past James into the entrance hall, she flung open the doors and disappeared into the rain. 


	14. Crystal Rain Drops

It didn't take long for James to decide to go after her. In fact, he hadn't really decided that he was, consciously, anyway, until he was halfway out the door. As soon as he was all the way out the door, the rain that was pouring from the sky soaked his body.  
"Lily! Come on, wait up!" he called as a sudden gust of wind blew, whipping his wet robes against his legs and making him even colder. "Lily, I didn't mean anything by it, I swear it! Just come back here. I promise to never bring it up again."  
Lily just shook her head, partly because she couldn't hear James over the howling of the wind, and partly because she didn't want to hear him. She turned toward him, her red hair plastered to her face, the tears still pouring from her sad green eyes. James ran over to her, and she weakly glared, but gave up after only a moment of a pathetic squint. She swiped at her eyes furiously, not helping to get rid of the tears.  
"You never listen to me, Potter!" She had to shout loudly to be heard over the rain and wind. "I told you that you with your perfect life would never be able to understand! But did you listen? NO! Do you ever pay attention? Couldn't you tell that I wanted you to leave me alone?"  
"I don't think you really do want to be left alone!" James said, also speaking loudly over the wind and rain. He put his hands on her shoulder and gave her a little shake. "I think you want someone to give you attention, because you feel lonely. I think you feel like the world's abandoned you."  
"It's not fair," she sobbed, staring at the ground. "It's never been fair. I loved her, and I was going to love him, too, but she left! She left me, daddy, Petunia. And even though she doesn't act like it, I know Petunia misses her. The world didn't abandon me, my mum did! She could have held on, I know she could have. But she didn't; she just gave up, and when she did, she gave him up, too. This is all her fault."  
James hadn't any idea what Lily was going on about, but it was killing him to see her this way. He could guess that Lily felt like her mum had abandoned her, and when she did, her mum took someone else with her, a boy, from the way she spoke. He wasn't sure what had exactly happened, but he hoped that maybe Lily was going to tell him.  
He lifted her chin with her fingers, making her look up at him. "Lily, I don't understand. Why did your mum abandon you, and your father, and Petunia? Though I can kind of tell why she might want to leave her, from the way you talk about her."  
"You don't understand. I knew you wouldn't. That's why I haven't told anyone about her and Harry. No one can ever understand what I went through."  
"Who's Harry?"  
"He was my almost baby brother," Lily said softly. James had to bend down to hear what she said. "He was going to be born sometime around Christmas, but she was going to have him early, and the doctors said that it was dangerous, even though he was only a week early. But she left us, and she took him with her. I never got to see what his eyes looked like. I saw him though, after it happened. He was really small and a bluish colour. My mum, when I saw her, she was white, and her lips were turning blue, but the doctors shoved me out of the room. I never saw her again."  
Lily's knees gave out and she sank to the ground, weeping. Something clicked in James's mind as he went down to the ground with her, and he put his arms around her while she buried her head into his chest and sobbed. Her mother had died, presumably giving birth to a baby boy who was to be named Harry, but the baby had died, too. Lily lost her mum and her brother in the same day. He wondered distantly how old Lily had been when it happened. And what about all those times when she had said parents, as in plural?  
James absently stroked Lily's hair while he thought. While on their one date, Lily had seemed fine when she spoke of her mum, like how her mum and her dad had taken her being a witch with pride while Petunia called her a freak. But when James had mentioned her mum, Lily had flipped out. It seemed like it was okay to her if she spoke of her mum, but if anyone else did, they were in trouble. This confused him, but maybe it was because as long as Lily had control over how much was said about Mrs. Evans, everything would okay, but if she didn't have power over the situation, the results were disastrous. He thought about the other times when Lily tended to fly off the handle and realized that ever since their third year, Lily liked to have control over things, and when she didn't have that, she freaked.  
That explained the way she acted toward him as well. Lily had no control over James's feelings for her, or over his actions, and that made her feel uncomfortable, which caused slapping to happen. But she also seemed to go to the places that James knew where to look for her when she told him to bug off, which told James that she secretly liked all the attention he gave her.  
"I was right, wasn't I?" he asked her softly. She looked up at him, confused. "I was right when I said that you really don't like to be alone, wasn't I? You like it when Remus, Sirius, Peter and I are around, even if we are hassling you, don't you?"  
Lily didn't answer right away. Instead she took her time wiping her eyes. When she did answer, she wouldn't look at him.  
"After mum died, I was alone a lot," she said at last. "My dad was really depressed and wasn't at home much after that. Petunia made certain that she was always busy with something. She made it a point to call her friends and make plans with them all the time, and she spent more and more time away from the house. Since they were always gone, I was left by myself in the house to try and drown the pain away with schoolwork. The summer after it happened, Petunia was gone even more, and my dad was always out of the house. In the beginning of the summer all I did was homework, but eventually I ran out of things to do, so I had a lot of time to think, too much time. When I came back to school the year after, I found that whatever attention anyone gave to me, big or small, I was grateful for."  
"So I was doing the right thing when I wouldn't stop bothering you," James said, smiling to himself. "Or was I? When did, you know, when did it happen?"  
"During the Christmas Break in second year. I remember that when I came back after the break, you were waiting for me in the common room, and you kept mentioning to me how quiet I was being, and what was wrong with me? I never answered, though. It drove you round the bend."  
She smiled weakly at the memory of a twelve-year-old James pacing and ranting the night after Lily had come back. She also remembered that she had almost told James what was wrong. In a wild, fleeting moment, she'd thought that James might have understood, or at least let her be, but as an after thought, her mouth had clamped itself shut and she'd went to bed early.  
The present day Lily sighed and placed her head against James's chest. A part of her was glad that she had told James about her mum. It felt like a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders; yet another part of her was almost sorry that she'd told him, just because it meant that Lily was placing a greater trust in the boy she promised herself she would never, ever love.  
  
Me: Well, it's nudging toward love and away from hate (finally). Maybe Lily will even go on another date with James...--Stares at the ceiling innocently-- I'm sorry that this chapter was a little depressing, but I had to get Lily to trust James somehow. Wow, it seems like all my stories are depressing in some way; it's a problem of mine. Another thing that seems to always be in my stories: death, or someone dying. Also another problem of mine. I'm a very problematic person, but that's to be expected, as insanity runs in my family. If you don't believe me, ask Hermione Elizabeth Granger, she'll tell you. And you can trust her: she's been to my house a number of times and has seen the insanity first hand. Okay, I'm going to stop babbling so you can all push the nice, little purple button in the corner that is so much fun to push. BYE! 


	15. TruceKind Of

The next morning at breakfast, James made sure that he saved a seat for Lily, snapping and practically biting anyone's heads off if they tried to sit in the seat. He even threatened to smack Sirius upside the head if he sat down there. Grumbling, Sirius decided to sit on the left side of Alexa (Remus was on the right, much to Sirius's distaste).  
Alexa beamed at him cheerfully, enjoying all the attention that she was suddenly getting. Sirius instantly cheered up, grinning back at her. Glancing around Alexa, Sirius glared at Remus, who just continued to eat his breakfast. It became well known around the castle that Sirius and Remus were fighting over Alexa, but Remus hadn't done anything, really. He didn't even really want to date Alexa, but he'd already agreed to a friendly get- together. Besides, he didn't really think that Alexa wanted to date him, either.  
When Lily came into the Great Hall, James looked up and patted the seat next to him, grinning. Lily rolled her eyes and sighed, but sat down anyway.  
As she was gathering food onto her plate, James began to ask, "Lily---"  
"No," she answered automatically. When she looked up, James was frowning. "What?"  
"You didn't even let me finish what I was going to ask!" he protested, pouting. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "I was going to ask if you were okay, but nooo. You have to go an assume that I'm going to ask you out."  
"Yes, Potter, I'm fine," Lily, taking a drink of her tea, replied. "And how can I not just assume that you're going to ask me out? You've been asking me out at least three times a day since first year, and whenever you wanted to ask me something, it was always if I would go out with you."  
Alexa snorted with laughter into her scrambled eggs at Lily's response, and Sirius, thinking that she was choking, started patting her on the back. She tried to swat his hand away, but now she really was choking because she was laughing so hard, and plus she couldn't breathe with all of Sirius's pounding on her back, knocking the wind out of her.  
"Sirius, I believe that Alexa doesn't need your help," Remus said to one of his best friends, who glared, but stopped pounding on her. Alexa nodded her head vigorously, agreeing with Remus.  
James coughed abruptly to get Lily's attention back to him. When her emerald green eyes were focused on him, he cleared his throat, and, smirking, asked, "Lily, will you go out---"  
"No."  
"Why? You haven't eve---"  
"Don't finish that sentence, James Potter," Lily said gruffly. "You can never say that I haven't given you chance. Have you forgotten the date that we had?"  
"How can I finish even one sentence when you keep interrupting---"  
"Hey, Prongs, can you pass the salt?" Sirius called from his spot across the table. James cried out in frustration and hurled the saltshaker at Sirius, who grabbed it from the air, afraid that it was going to hit his face, where James had been aiming it.  
Professor McGonagall cast a very stern look in James's direction, and came walking over there. "Mr. Potter, just what exactly do you think you are doing?"  
"Professor, I---"  
"Save it, Potter. I don't want to hear your excuses. Detention tomorrow night, midnight. Meet me in my office. No arguments."  
When the professor walked away, James cried, "Arrrg!" and stormed out of the Great Hall. Lily stared after him, mouth open in surprise. She'd never seen James so angry before. Of course, she rarely saw James angry at all, especially not about a detention. He'd gotten plenty of those before, and he usually just took them with a smug look.  
"James hates to be interrupted," Remus explained when he saw Lily's shocked expression.  
"Surprisingly, Prongs has almost a bad a temper as you do, Lils," Sirius quipped. He had to duck when Lily threw her blueberry muffin at him. "What is everyone trying to do to me, give me a concussion or something?"  
"We could only be so lucky," Lily muttered and Sirius pretended to be very wounded by the words. "And don't be daft, Black. Even if I had been aiming at your head, a muffin couldn't give you a concussion. You'd probably just eat it, anyway. Now give me my muffin back."  
Sirius grinned. "Can't. I ate it." (A/N: Boys, I tell you. That is SUCH the typical boy thing to do.) =======================================================================  
Lily found James lying outside on his back right beside the lake, staring up at the sky. Lily chewed her lip in thought (it was becoming a habit of hers). Should she go talk to him? She could go and apologize for not listening to him. Surely he was over it by now.  
"Hi," she said, flopping down on her knees beside him. He looked at her through the corner of his eyes. "I'm sorry about not letting you finish your sentences back there, and about you getting detention."  
James shrugged. "It isn't that big of a deal, I guess," he sighed. "It's just a major pet peeve of mine to be interrupted. I shouldn't have lost my temper, because unlike some people I could mention---but for my own safety, I won't---I don't loose my temper easily."  
Lily narrowed her eyes at him, and in a sort of playful voice said, "Watch it, Potter." She suddenly got serious and softly added, "Thanks, by the way, for last night. I, uh, I never really got the chance to thank you for listening to me." She hung her head.  
James cocked his head to the side. "I'm glad you told me about it. You'd be surprised at what I good listener I am, you know. You haven't anyone about it, have you?"  
"No, I haven't. I don't really talk about it with anyone. I've never really had a reason to talk to someone about it before, to be honest with you."  
"So what was your reason for last night, then?"  
"I guess I thought that I could trust you. Don't go and get a big head again, Potter. I was just starting to get used you having a not-so-big- head. And don't go yapping about it, either. Please?"  
"Now why would I go and do that, Lils?" He reached up and brushed some of her hair away out of her face, and she didn't pull away. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here for you, no matter what."  
"You know something, James, I think this is one of the most civilized conversation's we've ever had," Lily said, smiling a bit. When she looked at him, he was watching her with a weird look on his face. "What?"  
"You called me James. You never call me James. Well, there was that one time when---"  
"So what if I did call you James? It is your name after all."  
"Well, I don't know, I was starting to wonder around you if my name wasn't really just Potter," he answered, grinning at her smugly.  
"You're pushing your luck, _Potter_," she warned.  
"Sorry."   
========================================================================  
Me: Well, how do you like the new chapter? Personally, I thought it was rather amusing...lol. Okay, just something quick to say: After I get in Remus and Alexa's date, I will be ending this story...---Sobs--- But don't worry; there will be a sequel! It will be about their seventh year, and maybe even up until they die ---Sobs again--- I wish J. K. Rowling had never killed Lily and James off. They had such great potential to be great characters! Okay, sorry. I'm rather attached to them, even if they are characters in a book. That's not that point! Okay, really, I'm done ranting now, so you can review. Go on, push the purple button, you know you like to!


	16. A Whole New Begining

"So, Remus mate," said Sirius casually on the afternoon of Remus and Alexa's date, "where are you planning to take Alexa on your date tonight?"  
Remus cast a glance at Sirius out of the corner of his book, but other than that didn't look up. "I was planning on taking her to the Three Broomsticks and then maybe window shopping perhaps. Why?" he added suspiciously. He knew that Sirius wasn't asking just to try and make conversation.  
Sirius ignored the question and let out a bark of laughter. "I would think that you would be taking her to a more romantic sort of place, myself. The Three Broomsticks is hardly the place to woo a girl."  
"Ah, my friend, you're forgetting that I'm not planning to woo Alexa," Remus countered. "This is a strictly friendly date, just a friendly little get together, if you will. I've told you five times, today alone, that I'm not looking for anything outside of friendship with Alexa Peters."  
"Huh?"  
"He means that he doesn't fancy Alexa like you do, Padfoot," James translated. "It's a bit obvious that he doesn't, mate, otherwise he wouldn't be taking her to the Three Broomsticks."  
"Well, if you don't fancy her, why did you even agree to one date with her in the first place?" Sirius demanded.  
Remus finally set his Charms book down and glanced up at Sirius, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Because I knew it would drive you up the wall," he said smugly.  
--Later that evening...--  
"So Remus, do you have any siblings then?" Alexa asked conversationally, taking a sip of butterbeer. She looked around the room. Her exotic purple eyes caught on a tall plant a foot or two away from their table. She hadn't remembered seeing that plant before when she was in here.  
"Actually, no, I haven't any siblings," Remus answered, also taking a drink of his butterbeer. "Do you?"  
"Yeah." She nodded distractedly and tore her gaze away from the plant. "I've got two brothers, one of them is a year older than me, the other one is younger by a year, both in Ravenclaw, and a little sister who's three years younger than I am, who's in Hufflepuff."  
An awkward silence fell over their table in which both sixteen year olds drank their butterbeer and looked around, struggling to find something to talk about. Alexa's attention kept getting drawn back to the tall plant near their table, but she didn't know why. There wasn't anything remarkable about the plant in the least. Even so she kept glancing at it as if expecting it to get up and walk away or something, but it was always in the same place when she looked back at it.  
"Listen, Alexa let's just put this out in the open here," Remus said, drawing Alexa's attention back to him and away from the plant. "I like you, a lot, but only as a friend and nothing more. I agreed to come on this date because you said that we would be going as friends."  
"I like you too, Remus---"there was a sharp intake of breath from the plant---"as a really good friend. And I only asked you on this date because it was a dare. To be truthful with you, I dared Lily to go on a date with James, or she had to ask Snape out, and in return, she dared me to go out with you or Sirius."  
"Why didn't you ask Sirius?"  
"Because I knew that if I asked you, I could say that we would go as friends and nothing else and you would agree with me," Alexa answered simply. "If I'd would've asked Sirius out and then said the same thing, he probably would have laughed at me and tried to snog me every chance he got."  
Remus laughed. "Well, I for one am glad that we got that cleared up. Let's say we just call it an evening and head back to Hogwarts?"  
"Hang on—Sirius, you can come out now," Alexa called loudly over her shoulder to the plant behind her. "You've got to be the loudest breather I've ever heard, Black, honestly!" She laughed.  
Sirius came out from behind the plant and stood at the end of the table, smiling at them sheepishly. "So, you two aren't a couple then?"  
Alexa and Remus laughed again. "No, Sirius, we are not a couple," answered Remus through his laughter.  
Alexa added, "Most definitely not a couple." She sighed contentedly and smiled at Sirius and Remus in turn. "Now let's get back to Hogwarts, boys, as it's late and I need my beauty sleep."  
"But you're already so beautiful," Sirius said in a sugary-sweet voice, offering his arm to Alexa as she stepped out of the booth.  
She rolled her purple eyes, but accepted Sirius's outstretched arm. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Sirius Black, especially with me."  
"Right you are, love, right you are."  
  
The next day all five of the Gryffindors packed their things and got on the Hogwarts Express, ready to go home for the summer holidays. They were all chatting happily about what their summer plans were, except for Lily, who wasn't ready to leave Hogwarts and go back home where she would become nonexistent again.  
At Hogwarts she was somebody: She got good grades, studied hard, yelled at James frequently, and had fun with her friends. At home she was just plain Lily: She did all her homework because she had nothing else to do, hardly ever went outside because there was nothing/no one waiting for her out there, rarely came out of her room at all, and counted down the days when summer would end and she could go back to Hogwarts.  
James seemed to notice Lily sitting in all her gloom and depression because he scooted over to the seat next to her and said, "Hey Lils. Since your sister and dad never make plans with you, why don't you make plans to spend some of the summer days with us? It'd be fun, all of us friends together, laughing at people."  
Lily chocked back her laughter and looked James squarely in the eyes. "And why would you guys want to spend the summer with boring old Lily Evans, who, and I quote, 'has no idea of what a friend is'?"  
James recognized the words that he'd told Lily a while ago when he'd been particularly cross with her. He almost winced, but he didn't. Instead he covered up quickly by saying, "Because friends spend the summer together, because that's what friends are for. We are friends, aren't we?"  
Lily hesitated. James Potter was offering to be her friend? It didn't seem likely, since it was usually all for nothing with him; he was either asking her on a date or pulling tricks on her, never in the middle.  
"I s'pose we are friends, James," she answered finally. "If you'd be friends with a boring redhead who tends to fly off the handle and slap you a lot." She smiled at James. It was a warm, friendly smile.  
James smiled back. "If I can handle the infamous Lily Evans temper for six years I'm sure being your friend will be a piece of chocolate cake."  
The End  
A/N: Well, there you have it: The very last chapter of Love and Hate. --- Sobs--- But don't worry, there's a sequel! It's called Friendship Has Its Limits, and it will be coming soon to a computer near you, lol. I was going to add some other stuff about Sirius and Alexa, but I decided to save some stuff for Friendship Has Its Limits. So just to give you something to think about, how long do you think James and Lily's friendship will last? Review! Please? 


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